What did you do today?

[Taffy]

Today I had to dig out the goat shelter tanks so the goats could get in them!  The wind had drifted them closed!  Of course I had a lot of "help" shoveling them out.  Luckily they still had shelter.  This is what the shelters look like in sunny summer weather!

   

There is a 36' lean to in their pen which is separated by 2 walls into 3 different 12x12 areas.  They have feeders in 2 of the shelters with the hay storage area in the area between then feeders.  I have it set up so I can toss hay into each of the feeders from the hay area.  It was originally for my horses but works great for the goats.

After they "helped" me clean out the shelters we went for about an hour  walk.  I think they had "cabin fever" like the rest of us have!  There was a lot of posturing, head butting, spooking at nothing and bouncing around during the walk!  The sun came out as we were walking back to their pen.  It didn't stay out long but it was wonderful while it did!

   

Shortly after I got back into the house one of my daughter-in-laws sent me a photo of my oldest (18 mo.) grandson, Hunter, sledding down a hill of snow my son built with the tractor and one of Hunter and Haven (my 3 yr old granddaughter) by the tractor. .  They live on our farm about 1 mile from me.  I headed right over to join in the fun!

   

   

After the kids were done sledding we went for a walk.  I've been using my hiking poles in the snow.  They work great!  Hunter wanted to use one so I collapsed the pole all the way down for him.  It was a hoot watching him copy how I use the poles!

   

Hunter is a lefty like my husband.

   

It was a great day!  So wonderful to get out of the house and enjoy the respite from snow storms.  Tonight and tomorrow we are supposed to get freezing mix of rain/ice/snow.  I really hope it bypasses us!

[Nanno]

How fun! The snow is so pretty! Looks like those kiddos are having a great time. Your hayfields are sure going to appreciate all the moisture you're getting. We've gotten some good moisture so far this winter too. It was very windy last week and blew a lot of it away. We're seeing a lot of teensy little spikes of grass poking up everywhere through the mud!

[IdahoNancy]

A little boy with a stick and his Grandma. Life is good when it is simple.

[IdahoNancy]

Yesterday I found a discarded Christmas tree at my neighbors that still had the needles on it. I dragged it into the goat pen. Went out this morning in snow storm to find my almost 1 year old Ober, Beaumont, out there chewing on it. He had more than an inch of snow on his back and head. He walk over to me wondering what I was laughing at. He was solid white. The snow was so deep it touched his belly. Doesn't bother him a bit. He could have eaten the hay in the covered feeder. I had one other Oberhasli like that. He would stand outside in a blizzard playing all by himself. Odd behavior for a goat.

[Charlie Horse]

In 1975 a semi truck hauling cans of Arid Extra Dry took a wrong turn.  While attempting to do a U-turn, the truck was T-boned by another semi with a full load of Speed Stick.  My county was contaminated with a cloud of chemicals which, to this day, prevent us from receiving very much moisture.  The top of the cliffs has 5-8 inches on the shady side of hills, but back home only a few miles away, you'd be hard pressed to find 3 inches of snow anywhere.  Meanwhile, 100 miles north has a couple feet, and 100 miles south got 2 inches of rain in one evening a week ago.  In fact, before that crash, I hear there was no San Rafael Desert-- It was a pine forest.

   

   

[Taffy]

Charlie Horse, I don't know where your wonderful imagination comes from but if you're taking something I want to take it , too!  Your stories are outstanding!

Unfortunately the predicted ice/snow storm didn't miss us last night.  We had freezing rain and it's now covered with 6" of new snow.  My sidewalk was bare yesterday.  Now it has a layer of ice covered with snow.

   

[Nanno]

In 1975 a semi truck hauling cans of Arid Extra Dry took a wrong turn.  While attempting to do a U-turn, the truck was T-boned by another semi with a full load of Speed Stick.  My county was contaminated with a cloud of chemicals which, to this day, prevent us from receiving very much moisture.  The top of the cliffs has 5-8 inches on the shady side of hills, but back home only a few miles away, you'd be hard pressed to find 3 inches of snow anywhere.  Meanwhile, 100 miles north has a couple feet, and 100 miles south got 2 inches of rain in one evening a week ago.  In fact, before that crash, I hear there was no San Rafael Desert-- It was a pine forest.

HAHAHA!!! Love this!!

[IdahoNancy]

3 hour drive from Taffy and we had 6 inches of snow that fell on top of 14 inches of snow then it rained and froze up hard. We now have a plate of ice over snow. The deer walk around town like they have broken legs because invariably as they walk one of their 4 legs breaks through the ice and it almost knocks them over. We are getting use to them walking down the roads now.

[Nanno]

Today is Phil's birthday and I got him an authentic bosun's whistle like they have in the navy. I want our goats to learn its sound and come running when they hear it. It carries much further than our voices and has a very distinct sound, so I think they should be able to hear it from most corners of our property. I'll look forward to seeing Phil test it over the next few weeks. If we can train them to come reliably to the whistle at home, it will prove very useful on the trail should we ever somehow become separated from our boys.

I also got him a Dog Dazer from Northwest. We probably won't have a chance to use it till summer when we start hiking, but I'm interested to see how effective it is.

[Taffy]

Happy 40th birthday, Phil!  I was that age 27 3/4 years ago!

I'll bet the goats catch on to the bosun's whistle quickly.  Especially if there are treats involved during the learning process!

I have the Sound Defense dog deterrent.  It didn't phase the dog!  https://www.sounddefense.com/product/sou...ng-device/